Daily Manna 4 November
KEY VERSE: “So shalt thou put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the LORD.” – Deuteronomy 21:9
TEXT: Deuteronomy 21:1-9
1. If one be found slain in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be not known who hath slain him;
2. Then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is slain;
3. And it shall be, that the city which is next unto the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take an heifer, which hath not been wrought with, and which hath not drawn in the yoke;
4. And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto a rough valley, which is neither eared nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer’s neck there in the valley;
5. And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near; for them the LORD thy God hath chosen to minister unto him, and to bless in the name of the LORD; and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be tried;
6. And all the elders of that city, that are next unto the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the valley;
7. And they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it.
8. Be merciful, O LORD, unto thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood unto thy people of Israel’s charge. And the blood shall be forgiven them.
9. So shalt thou put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the LORD.
Read yesterday’s Daily Manna here
Sometime ago, two siblings went to their father’s church in Lagos, Nigeria. On their arrival, they could not find their father in the church. While the younger waited for the service, the elder decided to check a relative nearby. The boy neither returned home nor to the church. But three days after, his body was found headless in the neighbourhood. He had been killed by unknown persons.
This scenario is akin to the subject of our text today. The text focuses on an individual found slain in the field and his slayer was not known. God demanded that the elders living in the nearest city to the crime scene would bring a heifer down into a rough and unoccupied valley.
They would wash their hands in water over the heifer and profess that they had not shed the innocent blood; nor did they know the person that slew the victim. By so doing, they shall put away the guilt of innocent blood from among their city and people.
In the world today, a lot of innocent blood is being shed on daily basis. Indeed, nations groan and tremble under the burden of terrible crimes of armed robbery, cultism in higher institutions, banditry, ritual killings, kidnappings, political and religious killings and so on. All these bring God’s judgment upon the nations.
There are grave implications for such crimes, because God hates the shedding of innocent blood. People of God must rise up to confront the menace headlong by prayer, fasting, repentance and plead for God’s mercy.
The God of heaven has promised: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14). As Christians, therefore, we must cry to God for mercy and pardon upon our nation and for the healing of our land.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Prayer heals and purges the wickedness of the land.
THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Jeremiah 39-42
Thanks for reading Today’s Daily Manna – Murder Forbidden – by Pastor W. F. Kumuyi.
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Daily Manna 4 November 2020 Devotional
